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Rome Church condemns Madonna's crucifixion stunt


thebigham

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http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/440666p-371120c.html

Liz Rosenberg, mouthpiece for the ecumenical hate object, tells us: "I think the Pope would enjoy the show and would applaud her performance. He has an open invitation to see for himself the eloquence and beauty that Madonna expresses for humanity while performing her poignant song 'Live to Tell.'"

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http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/440666p-371120c.html

Liz Rosenberg, mouthpiece for the ecumenical hate object, tells us: "I think the Pope would enjoy the show and would applaud her performance. He has an open invitation to see for himself the eloquence and beauty that Madonna expresses for humanity while performing her poignant song 'Live to Tell.'"

:lmao: Good on you Liz!!

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I really believe it would bother her. Seriously, being ex-communicated is a big deal and you can tell, she still has Catholic feelings running deep in her( didnt she say so on The View?)

They would truly show how petty they are if they did ex-communicate her. In any event, I think the Catholic Church has some very evil people very high up.

As a non-practicing Catholic myself i don't see an excommunication as a big thing. They can excommunicate me for all I care. Why should such a thing matter when you don't even practice the faith.

There's no such thing as Catholic feelings. She said she believed in the golden rule taught by Jesus which is love your neighbour as yourself which is a virtue shared by all Christians, not just Catholics. Unless it's her desire to take holy communion I doubt this would scar her.

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Guest jamesshot
The current Pope looks like the devil/Anti Christ......the performance doesn't at all mock the church or Jesus Christ.

I have always thought that! Seriously, he does!

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My mom who is Catholic saw a news report about it and was like what is Madonna doing on the cross? I showed her footage of LTT on youtube and she saw it on her own and couldn't believe how everyone is missing the point of her performance that it isn't about the church, but about the suffering children in Africa. She was livid with the press, the Catholic church and anyone going off on Madonna when all she is doing is trying to give us a message about what is happening in Africa.

Go mom! :clap:

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Here's that full article from the AP, as posted on the NY Times site:

Madonna's Concert Crucifixion Draws Ire

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 4, 2006

Filed at 12:18 a.m. ET

ROME (AP) -- Madonna's plans to stage a mock crucifixion during a Sunday concert in Rome have drawn fire from religious leaders, who have condemned the stunt as ''an act of open hostility'' toward the Roman Catholic Church.

During the concerts of her ''Confessions'' world tour, the American diva appears crucified on a mirrored cross while wearing a crown of thorns.

The prospect of the scene being repeated at the concert in Rome's Olympic stadium, some 2 miles from the Vatican, prompted Catholic officials to denounce the act as a publicity stunt in bad taste.

''To crucify yourself in the city of the pope and the martyrs is an act of open hostility,'' Cardinal Ersilio Tonini was quoted as saying in La Stampa daily on Wednesday. ''It's a scandal created on purpose by astute merchants to attract publicity.''

Muslim and Jewish leaders also condemned the fake crucifixion.

''It's not the first time Madonna stages such an act. We deplore it, we feel it is an act of bad taste,'' said Mario Scialoja, the president of the Muslim World League in Italy.

''We express solidarity with the Catholic world,'' said Riccardo Pacifici, spokesman for Rome's Jewish community. ''It's a disrespectful act, and to do it in Rome is even worse.''

In May, the Catholic League in the United States expressed its discontent for the stunt after Madonna performed it at the tour's opening concert in Inglewood, California.

''Knock off the Christ-bashing,'' Catholic League president Bill Donohue said in a statement. ''It's just pathetic.''

Still, tickets for the Rome concert were selling quickly, with only about 100 left by Thursday, news agency ANSA reported.

Following concerts throughout North America, the ''Confessions'' tour continues through Sept. 21 with dates in Europe and Japan.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press on Thursday, the singer's New York-based spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, said: ''Madonna does not think Jesus would be mad at her, as his teaching of loving thy neighbor and tolerance is Madonna's message as well. The context of Madonna's performance on the crucifix is not negative nor disrespectful toward the church.''

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And, from NY Times' Arts, Briefly:

Madonna Raises Hackles, This Time in Rome

At one point during Madonna’s latest show, her world-traveling “Confessions Tour,” she dons a fake crown of thorns and descends on a suspended, glittery cross in a mock crucifixion scene, a scene that is causing some outrage in Rome in anticipation of her scheduled appearance there on Sunday. In an unusual show of religious solidarity, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders in the Italian capital united to condemn her, Reuters reported. “Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd,” the Rev. Manfredo Leone said from the Santa Maria Liberatrice church in Rome. “Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy.” Madonna is not a stranger to controversy — her 1989 video for “Like a Prayer” brought her plenty of condemnation — and will apparently not change her show for the Italian audience. People in London do not seem bothered by her antics, though: earlier this week a bronze cast of her hands was unveiled outside Wembley Arena as the first installment in the Square of Fame, intended to be the British equivalent of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

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Guest jamesshot

I just emailed Good Morning America about their lazy story on the cruxifiction this morning. They gave no context to her performance and made it seem like she is just doing this to piss off the Church and cause controversy again( cuz we all know she wouldnt sell a single CD without it). They even said controversy has never hurt her. God these people are fucking morons.

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Guest soylatte

madonna makes some islamic references in ct (and also rit american life), showing the muslim woman freed from oppression during isaac. i think that's very brave of madonna, along with using the cross imagery. the only ignorant and hateful parties here are the religious groups who haven't bothered to look at m's message.

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WTF :manson: :manson: :manson: :manson:

Giant Magazine

Desperate for Attention, Madonna Pisses on Religion…Again

Madonna once again compares herself to Jesus in her final stunt before menopause.

Not at all surprisingly, Madonna has reached into her bag of hack stunts to try to grab a little more attention. On her “Confessions” tour, Madonna is suspending herself from a glittery cross as she wears a crown of thorns—you know, like that Jesus guy. Oh yeah, and she’s planning to do it like 20 yards away from the Vatican.

Understandably this has the Catholic Church upset, but that’s not all. Leaders from both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Rome have come together with the Catholics in opposition to Madonna’s metaphorical masturbation on stage. That’s right, Muslims, Catholics, and Jews have all come together… against Madonna. These are people who can’t even agree whether bacon is a good thing, and they in no way disagree that Madonna is a jackass.

Father Manfredo Leone of Rome added, “Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd. Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy.” Comes close to blasphemy? The only thing that could make this more blasphemous is if a pig dressed as the prophet Mohammed went down on Madonna while she writhed on the cross.

(As bad as it may seem, this stunt does remain slightly less offensive then that time Madonna tried to play guitar. Yes, Madonna, I can play an A chord too, but I don’t take up five minutes on Letterman to announce it to the world.)

Madonna’s fans and supporters plead that we should look at the message and hidden meaning that she is trying to convey. That would be a lot easier if Madonna would just shit herself on stage and punch a child in the back of the head. That way she could just get to the point with out any bullshit symbolism. And what is her point? “I’ll shit myself and punch a child for attention. PS: I’m a whore.”

While no one’s arguing against Madonna’s right to be three-week-old colonic water, most seem to agree that Madonna is going a bit far for an unprovoked stunt. It’s not like priests are hanging outside her house re-enacting scenes from Who’s That Girl? and Body of Evidence.

Just when it seems no good can come from her stunt, there’s a small ray of hope: Madonna’s latest creative flatulence could actually help a certain troubled soul. Maybe, just maybe, Mel Gibson could redeem himself by redirecting the brutal beating of Jesus from the Passion of the Christ on Madonna. But do us a favor Mel, don’t wait till the end of the show this time—beat her early and often, and make sure she’s not getting off on it.

It’s time for someone to take a stand and tell Madonna, just because you’re 47 and still fuckable does not make you an authority on liturgical matters. But if you must do this, please understand that the beauty is in the details. Don’t blueball us again—get some real thorns and few rusty spikes. Let’s do this right.

Unfortunately, Madonna doesn’t go so far as to actually bleed from stigmata—that would be too satisfying for us—but at least she knows her fans in the front rows came for a pop concert, not a hepatitis-infused Gallagher show. But on the bright side, by the time she’s 60, Madonna’s show may be the best live action version of The Aristocrats ever. (The only thing that could validate this stunt would be if she started her first song with the line, “Hey, I can see my house from here.”)

To try to quell her Italian detractors, Madonna recently licked Italy’s taint by telling the Italian edition of Vanity Fair that she credited her “good Italian genes” for keeping her so fuckable from behind, but unfortunately those genes are also responsible for that gapped-tooth, imploding black hole of a suck bucket she calls a mouth.

Believe it or not, sometimes I too wish that Madonna was Jesus. That way we’d at least get three days of peace before she tries to make another comeback.

Peter Grumbine is a Los Angeles-based standup comic, writer, and the PR wizard for Rick Santorum’s ’06 campaign. While he owns petergrumbine.com, he’s too lazy to create it and just uses his myspace page.

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Well this explains it all to me

Peter Grumbine is the PR wizard for Rick Santorum's '06 campaign.

:vomit: For those who don't know him, Rick Santorum is a VILE conservative Republigican senator in Pennsylvania. He's often trashing gays and saying many other incredibly ugly and idiotic things. :sour:

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Believe it or not, sometimes I too wish that Madonna was Jesus. That way we’d at least get three days of peace before she tries to make another comeback.

Even though this comment is rather funny, I think the guy is walking on very thin ice here.

Obviously he has forgotten what it took to keep Jesus quite for these 3 days.

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Guest jamesshot

Wow that was a vile article. I have rarely seen such hateful things. And this guy is working for Rick Santorum. Typical Conservative.

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It's vile, but it's also great and puts a smile on my face. lol It's like the good ol' days. :)

She's always going to have some pesky detractors, as revered and celebrated as she is. And it just goes to show that people- even the detractors- do still care enough to write so much about her.

She must LOVE it.

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Guest boytoyville
I just emailed Good Morning America about their lazy story on the cruxifiction this morning. They gave no context to her performance and made it seem like she is just doing this to piss off the Church and cause controversy again( cuz we all know she wouldnt sell a single CD without it). They even said controversy has never hurt her. God these people are fucking morons.

What did they all say about it? Is there a youtube link so I can watch it by chance. Who is on that show these days anyhow?

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Guest jamesshot
What did they all say about it? Is there a youtube link so I can watch it by chance. Who is on that show these days anyhow?

It was Diane Sawyer and Andrew Cuomo. They said she is at it again, called her a pop rebel, just said she is crucifying herself, no context about the orpahns or Bible quotes that end the performance, quoted some guy in Rome as saying it was blasphemous, and said Muslims and Jews also condemned it. It was very lazy. I think you can go to www.abcnews.com, follow the Good Morning America link and you might be able to view the segment. They havent responded to my email yet( I dont expect them to).

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Cleveland Plain Dealer

Has Madonna crossed church for last time?

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Chuck Yarborough

Plain Dealer Columnist

Madonna must think she's Sinead O'Connor. She's in trouble with the Vati can. Again. And she's not doing anything as silly as ripping up a picture on national TV. Madge's "Confes sions" show opens with the singer on a mirrored cross, wearing a faux crown of thorns. It drew lots of criticism here, as I reported before, but that's nothing compared to what she's getting in Rome, where she's scheduled to perform on Sunday. Her New York-based publicist, Liz Rosenberg, told the press, "Madonna doesn't think Jesus would be mad at her, as his teaching of loving thy neighbor and tolerance is Madonna's message as well." Ah, the Gospel of St. Madge. But I don't think Rome is buying it. Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, apparently speaking with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, is calling for the lapsed Catholic to be excommunicated. Excuse me, but if she's a lapsed Catholic, hasn't she already excommunicated herself? I've got a better idea: She's a disciple of kabbalah, which is rooted in Judaism. Why not kill two birds with one stone and put her in a cell with Mel Gibson?

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Guest Little Red
It's vile, but it's also great and puts a smile on my face. lol It's like the good ol' days. :)

She's always going to have some pesky detractors, as revered and celebrated as she is. And it just goes to show that people- even the detractors- do still care enough to write so much about her.

She must LOVE it.

Sure. She has always made it clear that she loves being misunderstood.

you guys may love it because it gives her headlines, thinking it makes her relevant. I think Madonna would care more about people actually understanding, not just screaming abuse in big letters.

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Yeah yeah. They say Madonna pulled the blasphemous stunt .. again. But the Catholic churches are pulling the same excommunication stunts again too. They're not even fans nor are they going to the concerts. They should just shut the fuck up and donate their many gold reserves to the children of Malawi.

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LR, there are people who always have written very negative thigns about Madge, without bothering to even try understanding what she was doing. This is no different. M already has made a statement on what she's doing- that's enough. It's all about people only seeing what they want to see.

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Madonna "crucified" in Rome, Vatican protests

By Rachel Sanderson

ROME (Reuters) - Madonna staged a mock-crucifixion in the Italian capital on Sunday, ignoring a storm of protest and accusations of blasphemy from the Roman Catholic Church.

In a sold-out stadium just a mile from Vatican City, the lapsed-Catholic diva wore a fake crown of thorns as she was raised on a glittery cross during the Rome stop of her worldwide "Confessions Tour."

The Vatican had accused her of blasphemy and provocation for even considering staging the sham crucifixion on its doorstep, anger Madonna further enflamed prior to the show by inviting Pope Benedict to come and watch.

The self-styled "Queen of Pop" went on to pepper her two-and-a-half hour show with more controversial imagery, at one point showing photographs of the pope after those of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

"Did you know two miracles have taken place in Rome?," the star, dressed in skin-skimming black, later joked with the crowd. "Italy won the World Cup and the rain stopped before my show."

The 70,000 fans, crammed into the Olympic Stadium, shrugged off the scandal, by dancing, singing and jumping as she performed songs from her latest album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" and classics, such as "Like a Virgin."

Yet, the cheering lulled when she was raised on the cross and some fans from predominantly Roman Catholic Italy confessed their disappointment.

"The crucifixion was unnecessary and provocative. Because this is Rome, I wish she'd cut it out. But it's Madonna, she's an icon, and that balances out her need to provoke," said 39-year old Roman, Tonia Valerio.

It is not the first time Madonna, whose father is a Catholic Italian American, has caused religious anger for her controversial religious and sexual imagery.

Catholic leaders condemned as blasphemous her 1989 video for hit song "Like a Prayer," featuring burning crosses, statues crying blood and Madonna seducing a black Jesus.

In 2004, a Vatican group warned that her latest religious belief "Kabbalah," a mystical from of Judaism, was a potential threat to the Roman Catholic faithful.

And she looks likely to face another storm when the tour reaches Moscow in September, where the Russian Orthodox Church has advised its followers to boycott the show because of the crucifixion stunt, agency Interfax reported on Saturday.

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Guest northernlad

This is all so John Stewart appropriate, but where is he to say the Vatican has made a complete arse of itself? I s'pose Cheney, Spears & Coulter really is a full time job. :square:

Eh, perhaps it will all culminate with an NBC interview special in November couped with the concert airing.

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Guest Glamorama

I think the reaction of the Catholic church is entirely predictable and further emphasises their lack of content with reality.

However having said that I wish Madonna HADN"T done this crucifixion scene. Yes it's making a point about Aids but you know what - the crucifixion image is sacred to a lot of people - my mother included. I don't see what will be achieved by including it and causing such offence among people who are simply ordinary catholics and not the Pope.

This year alone we've already had the Mohammed cartoons protests. At a time when religious sensibilities are growing ever more extreme I think people need to respect the fact that sacred imagery (even if you don't believe it to be sacred yourself) needs to be respected.

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Guest synomere

Oh for crying out LOUD!!! :grr:

The crucifix is by no means unique to Christianity. Thousands of people were crucified at the time - it was after all the fashionable capital punishment of the time. The whole resurection idea is also by no means unique to christainity and is in fact a common theme in most of the older pagan religions.

If the Vatican didn't have the common sense to copyright the crucifixion/ resurrrection, they should just SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

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Guest hyperballad_brad

I agree with what you're saying there, but Madonna's image is supposed to be Jesus-inspired so technically it isnt just any old crucifixion/resurrection

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Guest Glamorama
Oh for crying out LOUD!!! :grr:

The crucifix is by no means unique to Christianity.

I think your reply is being a bit facetious to be honest with you. Of course it's not unique to Christianity but it's recognised the world over as THE Christian symbol . And as a symbol it is very important to hundreds of millions of people who identify as Christians. By using the crucifix as a symbol Madonna is offending the Vatican (which is perfectly acceptable to me) but she is also offending ordinary people (like my mother) who don't agree with the homophobia and sexism of the church.

Utilising imagery which is sacred and holy to hundreds of millions of people in order to make a point about some old men in Rome isn't the wisest choice.

Aside from all that the she's done the whole crown of thorns thing before.

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